It’s hard to explain the excitement and anticipation of coming to New York City, the mecca for fashion, design and business each spring for Vision Expo East. Every year, Vision Expo East brings together eyecare professionals from over 80 countries around the world. With more than 330 total hours of education across 22 targeted tracks and over 470 exhibitors in 10 pavilions/specialty areas covering 270,000 square feet, this year’s Show will truly inspire, according to show organizers.

Vision Expo East continues to offer a unique and comprehensive education curriculum designed to prepare all members of the eyecare team with the knowledge needed to develop their practice and enhance patient care. The 2015 education curriculum will feature numerous sought-after keynote speakers, two innovative new education formats, and three new education tracks, all developed to present attendees with the eyecare profession’s most forward-thinking educational experience available.

Recently, wearable technology has grown exponentially and continues to invigorate the eyecare industry and make headlines. To keep up with this growth, a four-hour Wearable Technology track (see page 16) has been added to the Conference and will highlight everything from Google Glass to augmented reality goggles to GPS and Bluetooth enabled frames.

In addition, Vision Expo East has added the Ocular Wellness Program, which offers three hours focused on educating attendees on quality of life and preventive medicine and the Retail track, which presents a fresh perspective on retailing including everything from growing a brand to insights into the broadening scope of brands and how new technologies are shaping the eyecare industry. Retail experts also share their insider marketing tips and techniques to break through the communication clutter and set your business apart.

The popular Spotlight Series kicks off with More Than Meets the Eye - The Evolution in Eyecare, Retail, and Customer Service presented by Paco Underhill, retail anthropologist, market researcher and author of the books “Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping and What Women Want: The Global Marketplace Turns Female Friendly.” Spotlight Series Courses are conducted during expanded morning and lunchtime hours to better accommodate attendees’ busy schedules.

Also offered within the Spotlight Series is The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center Presents — Memorable Customer Service, sponsored by Eyefinity and presented by Joseph Quitoni, corporate director, Culture Transformation at The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center. The Ritz-Carlton is widely recognized around the globe as one of the highest standards in customer service excellence and this program will share The Ritz-Carlton’s method for fulfilling, not only the expressed, but also the unexpressed wishes and needs of customers.

Along with the addition of new education tracks and courses, some favorites are returning this year. Back again are the widely popular Melton and Thomas anchoring the Conference on Saturday with three courses, and the “Greatest Ever” series on Friday with Jack Schaeffer, OD, Paul Karpecki, OD, and Charlie Ficco doing the “Greatest Anterior Segment Disease and Medical Management of Contact Lens Course – Ever,” followed by Mark Dunbar, Jay Haynie, and Jerome Sherman leading the “Greatest Posterior Segment Disease Course – Ever” class. Both of these courses offer cutting-edge information by some of the top speakers in optometry delivered in a fun and interactive format.

The Conference includes the latest education formats including three hours of Hands-on Workshops as well as 18 hours of crowd sourced learning courses where attendees can utilize new technologies to suggest speaker topics, answer polling questions and steer the conversation.

One welcome change to the exhibit floor is the elevation of the visionary designers in The Galleria and The Underground, relocated to Level 3 of the Javits Center based on feedback from buyers who shop these fashion-forward collections from around the world. To celebrate the new atmosphere, The Galleria and The Underground will host a pop-up panel with luxury eyewear designers in The Galleria on March 20, followed by a champagne meet and greet.

Beyond the vast amount of education offerings, Vision Expo East is a place to network with eyecare professionals from around the world and build new, lasting relationships. On Friday evening, head on over to the B.B. King Blues Club for the Opening Night Party featuring the Bad Habits “Eye Docs of Rock.” Sponsors of Bad Habits include, Vision Source, Costa, Essilor, Marco and Ocuco, and they will be hosting an open bar for the first hour of the party. Earlier that night, the B.B. King Blues Club will also host the ODs on Facebook Party, the Think About Your Eyes Premium Member Party and the Vision Source Party.

The next generation has opportunities to learn and network at this year’s show. “Student Saturday” includes an exclusive Optometry Student Party, educational lunch, education sessions and a special pass to EyeRock: Rockin’ for New Eyes party. Young Professionals have a networking event on Friday night, as well as an educational lunch and can use their club benefit of six free hours of education throughout the show.